Fourth of July!

[Mark T. DeNucci, Sr.]

To all of my fellow Americans, please have a safe Fourth of July.

To all of my friends across the pond: Have a nice day at work! 😄

MTD, Sr.

[Zoochy]

+1

[ilyazhito]

Originally Posted by Zoochy

+1

Happy Independence Day!

[BillyMac]

It was cool that the Fourth Of July actually fell on July 4th this year, as John Hancock and his buddies intended.

[bwburke94]

Perhaps they intended it to be July 2nd instead.

[BillyMac]

Originally Posted by BillyMac

It was cool that the Fourth Of July actually fell on July 4th this year, as John Hancock and his buddies intended.

So where did this “corny” joke come from?

I’ve always been fascinated with days (as in days of the week) and dates.

It started with me as a child when I would read the newspaper comics. The comic Pogo by Walt Kelly was one of my favorites. There was an ongoing joke in Pogo about Friday the thirteenth. “Friday the thirteenth comes on Friday this month.” “Today is a real Friday the thirteenth.” “The thirteenth of Friday comes on Thursday this month.” “Friday the thirteenth comes on Saturday this month.” “Friday the thirteenth comes on Wednesday this month.”

Next came the “confusion” with the passage of The Uniform Monday Holiday Act, enacted in 1968, that moved permanently to Monday two federal holidays (Washington's Birthday and Memorial Day), and that made Columbus Day a federal holiday, also permanently on a Monday.

This created long weekends with three days off ending with the holidays, such as Memorial Day Weekend.

The Uniform Monday Holiday Act moved Veterans Day from November 11 to the fourth Monday in October, but in 1978, to add to the “confusion”, it was returned to November 11, the actual date of the end of World War I and celebrated as Armistice Day.

The created an opportunity for corny jokes such as “How great is it that Memorial Day actually falls on Memorial Day this year?”.

While I realize the value of the Uniform Monday Holiday Act in creating long holiday weekends for many workers, I hate it because it somewhat “devalues” the importance of these national holidays.

And don't get me started on “President's Day”.

Next was the “odd” Catholic Church calendar celebrating Easter on the “ancient” basis of the vernal equinox and the full moon, thus not having the same “date” every year. Easter generally falls on the first Sunday after the first full moon on or after the vernal equinox. Easter is a movable feast. Its date is different from year to year. This is probably due to Jesus being a devout Jew, thus using the Jewish Lunar Calendar, and his celebration of the Passover meal (Holy Thursday Last Supper) before his crucifixion.

Thus, while “How great is it that Christmas actually falls on a Sunday this year?” is a rational thought, “How great is it that Easter actually falls on a Sunday this year?” is nonsensical. Same joke for Ascension Thursday, Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Pentecost Sunday (takes place on the 50th day (the seventh Sunday) after Easter Sunday).

To further “confuse” the issue, the Catholic Church says that there are nine holy days of obligation other than Sundays, but it also says that the local bishops may suppress some of them or transfer them to a Sunday (the “confusing” part).

Some (not all) Roman Catholic parishes have obtained permission from the Vatican to move observance of the Feast of the Ascension (Jesus appeared after Easter Sunday for 40 days prior to his Ascension) from the traditional Thursday (Ascension Thursday, the fortieth day of Easter) to the following Sunday.

The traditional date for the feast of Epiphany (Three Kings Day) is January 6. However, since 1970, the celebration, for some Roman Catholic parishes, is held on the Sunday after January 1.

To even further “confuse” matters: January 1 The Octave Day of Christmas Solemnity of Mary, the Holy Mother of God; August. 15 Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary; and November 1 The Solemnity of All Saints; if the date is on Saturday or Monday, there is no "holy day of obligation" for that year.

When I was confirmed back in 1964, we had to memorize the dates of the nine holy days of obligation, to be prepared to be possibly "quizzed"" by the archbishop. As difficult as that seemed back then, I would be hard pressed to give an accurate answer today (after the changes explained above).

[BillyMac]

By the way, do you know what day (not date) of the week you were born on?

I was born on a Thursday.

To find out:

https://www.timeanddate.com/date/weekday.html

When the pharmacist asks me for my birthday, I reply "Thursday".

[ilyazhito]

I was born on a Tuesday.